Nielsen: iPhone sales climb as Android sales flatten out

Seventeen percent of new cell phone acquirers picked up an iPhone, up from 10 …

Apple's iPhone is back to driving the growth of smartphones in the US, according to a recent Nielsen study. In a survey of recent cell phone acquirers, the proportion of new iPhone owners has jumped to 17 percent from 10 percent at the beginning of the year, while percentages of new Android phone owners has plateaued at 27 percent.

Those numbers show that Android still makes up the majority of new smartphone sales for customers who picked them up in the last three months, but interest in the platform has stopped growing for now. But Apple has managed to fight back: interest in iPhones has risen anew since January when iPhones sales had tapered off, while Android phones were climbing. The introduction of the Verizon iPhone likely had something to do with this swapping of roles, as analysts predicted shortly after its introduction.

BlackBerry is still going downhill, and fell from 11 percent of new sales to 6 percent in the last few months. Windows phones are hovering at one percent, apparently little more than a blip on consumer radar.

But all the brands together have made big strides for smartphone adoption as a whole: 55 percent of recent cell phone acquirers chose smartphones over feature phones, up from 34 percent a year ago.

There are still more Android phones being sold than iPhones, but the percentage of phone sales isn't increasing, while it still is for the iPhone.

These numbers don't really mean much, other than "RIM is still fucked", and "MS needs to get off their ass and sell some phones". Android will undoubtedly get another big bump when IceCream Sandwich drops with new hardware, and the iPhone 5 will undoubtedly bump Apple some more.

I think for right now, they're new and underexposed. They're also not offering any significant "hooks". iPhone revolutionized phone UI's, Android made smartphones cheap and flexible, Windows Phones are adding...square-based UI and xbox live integration? It's not bad stuff at all, but it's not expanding reality, either.

Consumers who bought the android are starting to realize the platform sucks and are missing out on all the fun iPhone and iPad users are having. So they either cancel contracts and switch or when the contract expires go for an iPhone instead of another android phone.

There is a limited selection of phones, and the first version of the OS is missing a lot of stuff. Once Mango comes out and Nokia starts peddling WP7 phones, sales should pick up. They aren't even terrible now for a platform less than a year old, they are just far behind Apple and Google.

According to the Windows Phone 7 faithful there is a worldwide conspiracy involving all the salespeople in the world.

Windows phones are quite good. The platform is new, so time will tell whether it will grow. There are also not as many phones out there with it on, so if they sold every single one made, they still wouldn't have iphone android numbers. You need to look at trends, not raw data, to make good judgments. Only time will tell.

Consumers who bought the android are starting to realize the platform sucks and are missing out on all the fun iPhone and iPad users are having. So they either cancel contracts and switch or when the contract expires go for an iPhone instead of another android phone.

No. The numbers are actually saying that people are still buying twice as many Android phones as iPhones. None of Apple, Google, or MS's numbers are actually going down. Even RIM and Nokia are still selling more phones than ever, they are just losing their percentage of the market.

I'm surprised. I honestly thought with the Samsung Galaxy S2, that we'd see some significant increases in sales for the Android phone, where as the people who would want an iPhone, most would wait for the iPhone 5. I'm in the market for a new phone and I'm torn between instant gratification and getting the Galaxy S2, or hold out for the iPhone 5 which would probably work better with my mac as my past experiences with other phones has never played nice with my mac. However, as the market share is still dominantly Windows PC, I would imagine the Galaxy S2 and close competitors would be as appealing an alternative to the aging iPhone 4. Maybe the next 3 months of sales may reflect that as the Samsung phone just got released a month ago, right?

There are still more Android phones being sold than iPhones, but the percentage of phone sales isn't increasing, while it still is for the iPhone.

These numbers don't really mean much, other than "RIM is still fucked", and "MS needs to get off their ass and sell some phones". Android will undoubtedly get another big bump when IceCream Sandwich drops with new hardware, and the iPhone 5 will undoubtedly bump Apple some more.

Not quite, I think. What the article is trying to say is that the *rate* of growth of *new* smartphone users has plateau-ed for Android while the rate of growth of new iPhone users has increased.

But the conclusion that, therefore, the iPhone is driving "interest" in smartphones is wholly specious. I mean, it is a completely fucked conclusion, and I'm not blaming Casey here, but the original source. If every month, 27% of new users go to android, and 17% go to iPhone, then clearly users are more enthusiastic about Android. If tomorrow, Android drops to 25% and iPhone goes up to 20%, there is still more interest in Android phones. The *rate* has nothing to do with "interest".

Consumers who bought the android are starting to realize the platform sucks and are missing out on all the fun iPhone and iPad users are having.

I don't think that customers think Android or WP7 sucks. But Apple has an advantage because it has an entire mobile ecosystem of media devices (iPod Touch), phones (iPhone) and tablets (iPad) which all use the same OS, online store and syncing software.

This consistency between different types of devices (phones, tablets, media players) has been a tough thing for MS and Google to figure out (even though Google is getting close).

With the new google+, if it takes off, and all the integration going on with their products, I see the droid doing very well for a long time. I was torn between Iphone and a droid and ended up jumping on the android ship and loving it.

I'm surprised. I honestly thought with the Samsung Galaxy S2, that we'd see some significant increases in sales for the Android phone

We're past the point where one specific Android phone will visibly bump sales, and non geeks don't pay attention to specific phone launches.

Yes, but word of mouth and 'soft demonstrations' (my coined phrase for people being exposed to new phones at bars, parties, offices, etc.,) does expose non-geeks to new phones and can expose them to alternatives to the iconic iPhone. After reading the specs on the phone, and the maturity of Android, I'm gonna make a prediction that in 3 months we could very well see a measure of increase attributed to the Samsung Galaxy S2.It is a beauty of a phone. And before fanboys dog pile me, I said, PREDICTION. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but the AMOLED display, wow, I'm hoping the iPhone 5 has a screen as gorgeous as it. /takes a sip of kool aid and prays to Steve Jobs

This article does a dis-service.Look at the overall growth regionally, globally, break it down by time showing a trend of percent growth over time.This will give you a nice accurate picture.Saw this on one of the tech sites...

Per Andy Rubin at Google, Android activations have gone from 400,000 per day to 500,000 per day and growing at 4.4%. This survey seems in complete contradiction to that. Of course, this Nielsen survey was probably just US residents and not a global market. Thus if this survey is accurate, Android sales are stabilizing in the US, but overall global sales for Android are increasing. It will be interesting to see the actual numbers for all platforms at this quarter end.

Consumers who bought the android are starting to realize the platform sucks and are missing out on all the fun iPhone and iPad users are having. So they either cancel contracts and switch or when the contract expires go for an iPhone instead of another android phone.

Thank you for the fantasy story that is not backed up by the numbers in this article.

Android phone sales will at least grow by one person if Google's next Nexus (Nexus Prime?) is made by HTC instead of Sam(-Ishouldhavestuckwithtvs-)sung.

I like my Nexus One and haven't even looked at other phones; that'll change provided the above.

iPhone lovers will claim that Apple still owns the phone market, but that's mostly because they are deluded/insane/blind&deaf.

Rumor has it the next Nexus will be manufactured by LG.

Overall, though, if Apple's market share is growing that rapidly and the smartphone market is growing that rapidly, shouldn't we be seeing greater increases in iPhone sales than Apple has reported? This is basically saying that iPhone sales have more than doubled - that seems dubious.

Consumers who bought the android are starting to realize the platform sucks and are missing out on all the fun iPhone and iPad users are having. So they either cancel contracts and switch or when the contract expires go for an iPhone instead of another android phone.

Thank you for the fantasy story that is not backed up by the numbers in this article.

Two interesting things here. First, the market for smartphones is beginning to saturate, so we're about to get real competition in the marketplace and not just fanboy rhetorical shadowboxing. Also, pretty soon, the replacement cycle will become important, so we'll start seeing the effects of lock-in, and attempts by smartphone makers to deal with it. So, IMO, it's gonna get more intense, and soon.

Consumers who bought the android are starting to realize the platform sucks and are missing out on all the fun iPhone and iPad users are having. So they either cancel contracts and switch or when the contract expires go for an iPhone instead of another android phone.

you, sir, are a sad little narrow minded fanboy. in fact it's quite possibly the opposite, and users new to smartphones are getting used to iOS and starting to crave more power, features and customization.

Android phone sales will at least grow by one person if Google's next Nexus (Nexus Prime?) is made by HTC instead of Sam(-Ishouldhavestuckwithtvs-)sung.

I like my Nexus One and haven't even looked at other phones; that'll change provided the above.

iPhone lovers will claim that Apple still owns the phone market, but that's mostly because they are deluded/insane/blind&deaf.

Rumor has it the next Nexus will be manufactured by LG.

Overall, though, if Apple's market share is growing that rapidly and the smartphone market is growing that rapidly, shouldn't we be seeing greater increases in iPhone sales than Apple has reported? This is basically saying that iPhone sales have more than doubled - that seems dubious.

From what I understand, the survey is of new users, meaning, it does not include iPhone 3 users who upgraded to iPhone 4, and the same goes with android. It could very well be that a large percentage of iPhone sales are upgrades.

The problem with the Windows Phones is that most consumers see them as an "also ran". You know just looking at it that the app market is not going to be anything near what's available on the Android, let alone iPhone. The prices and feature sets aren't terribly different either, so it's really hard to come up with a compelling reason to choose one over an Android or an iPhone. XBox Live integration is a niche that isn't big enough to pull the phone out of the 1 or 2% range IMHO.

I switched from iPhone 3GS to Android Atrix because of Apple's stagnant OS (seriously, has it effectively changed at all since their first phone? NO!). But my experience with Android has been love/hate, and almost exclusively hate, hate, hate recently. I seriously fucking hate their system. Some of the flexibility/customization is nice, but there are gaping holes in functionality and ease of use. Music and media consumption is a sad, sad joke. And I just found out there's no supported way to backup & restore my applications and settings (I'm getting a waranty replacement, and motorola effectively told me "sucks to be you"). I complaine about Apple a lot, but at least their shit works. Android has lost me for life, and I'll do my damnedest to convince everyone else to avoid them. And this is coming from a "I'm a PC" guy (I tried Mac OS; didn't like it; switched to Win 7 OS; happy now.)

Nook color. Cm7. $200 and it flies oc'd to 1.2. We have an ipad as well but this the best thing out there right now for real value especially if you enjoy Modding. For phones virgin mobile LG optimus v. $25 per month unlimited data and text. Apple is cool but way overpriced and locked system sucks for those of us that like to do things our own way.

iPhone lovers will claim that Apple still owns the phone market, but that's mostly because they are deluded/insane/blind&deaf.

The only people who claim that "iPhone lovers" claim that Apple owns the market are people making up strawmen to knock them down. The iPhone has never owned the smartphone market. Even when it was just RIM, Apple, Windows Mobile, and Symbian, Apple never had the majority of the market.

[...]I seriously fucking hate their system. Some of the flexibility/customization is nice, but there are gaping holes in functionality and ease of use. Music and media consumption is a sad, sad joke. And I just found out there's no supported way to backup & restore my applications and settings (I'm getting a waranty replacement, and motorola effectively told me "sucks to be you").

Just out of curiosity, what is it that you have on there that you're worried about losing? Any apps you bought from the Marketplace are still saved to your Google account so you can re-download them again after you get your new phone (or even if you UPGRADE to a new Android phone). Your contacts and the like.. mine are stored to my Google Voice account. I don't know if they normally store in your Gmail account or what-not. Particular settings, I find easy to adjust (and I adjust mine very often). Do you have something special on yours?

Now, I may be wrong here, but can't you back-up your settings by connecting to your desktop with your phone? Never tried it, so I'm curious.

Android devices should automagically back up application choices, and if the app developers have implemented it, data as well, to the cloud. Your settings, including things like WiFi networks and BlueTooth devices are backed up as well. You won't get backup of stuff like photos and videos, but since that is typically stored on a removable SD card, I don't see this as a problem.

You may not like this approach because of privacy concerns, but for those willing to use it, it's about the most elegant process possible. Get your new device, log in to your Google account, and everything is magically restored over the air without you even having to plug in the device.

There are some caveats of course, but IME it works pretty well if you're willing to embrace Google's various services.